Describing People Version Corta

Describing people
Which of the following women do you consider the most beautiful?

Which of the following men do you consider the most
handsome?
Vocabulary: Physical Appearance
AGE / EDAD
• young / joven
• in her twenties / en sus veintes
• in his twenties / en sus veintes
• in her thirties / en sus treintas
• in his thirties / en sus treintas
• in my forties / en mis cuarenta
• in my fifties / en mis cincuenta
• in my early twenties / al comienzo de mis veinte
• in my mid twenties / a la mitad de mis veinte
• in my late twenties / al final de mis veinte
• elderly / anciano
HEIGHT / ESTATURA
• tall / alto, alta
• average height / de estatura promedio
• short / bajo, baja
WEIGHT / PESO
• thin / delgado, delgada
• slim / Delgado, esbelta (atractivamente delgada)
• average weight / de peso promedio
• heavy-set / pesado, pesada
• well-built / fornido
HAIRSTYLE / ESTILO DE CABELLO

• long / largo
• short / corto
• shoulder-length / hasta el hombro
• straight / lacio
• straightened hair / cabello laceado
• permed hair / cabello ondulado
• curly / crespo
• wavy / ondulado
• spiky / parado
• bangs / cerquillo
• ponytail / cola (de caballo)
• pig tails / coletas (dos colitas)
• cornrows / trencitas (pegadas a la cabeza)
• braids / trenzas
• bun / moño
• bald / calvo
•
OTHERS / OTROS
• false eyelashes / pestañas postizas
• stubble / barba (de tres días)
• mustache / bigote
• beard / barba
• sideburns / patillas
• goatee / barba de chivo
• clean-shaven / rasurado, afeitado
• freckles / pecas
• mole / lunar
• scar / cicatriz
• dimples / hoyuelos
• wrinkles / arrugas
• eye bags / ojeras
• pierced ears / orejas perforadas
• pierced lips / labios perforados
• pierced eyebrows / cejas perforadas
Adjectives to describe physical appearance
• attractive – She is a very attractive woman. bald – I have a bald head.
• beautiful – You have beautiful eyes. big – He has a big nose.
• blonde – She has blonde hair. black – My mom has long black hair.
• blue – He has blue eyes. brown – She has brown eyes.
• chubby – The boy has chubby cheeks. cute – Look at that cute baby.
• fat – I’m looking a little fat these days. funny – The clown has a funny face.
• gorgeous – You look absolutely gorgeous in that dress. handsome – You look very handsome in your suit.
• large – The clown also has very large feet. long – Your fingernails are too long.
• old – The old man is sitting watching TV. oval – The child had a cute oval face.
• pretty – Look how pretty she is! round – The girl has a round face.
• short – I am very short compared to my brothers. slim – You look slim. Have you lost some weight?
• small – She has a small nose. stylish – Your hair is very stylish.
• tall – She is very tall compared to me. thick – She had thick blonde hair.
• thin – You look very thin these days. ugly – The witch was very ugly.
• white – The old man has white hair. yellow – The ugly witch has yellow teeth.
• young – The young boy is playing in the park.
Describing people
How to Describe a Person's Physical
Appearance
Describing someone’s physical appearance sounds
easy, until you actually try to do it. Whether you want
to describe someone you just met to a friend or alert
the police about a crime suspect, it’s important to
cover key physical details and unique characteristics
systematically. If you’re trying to flesh out a character
in the story you’re writing, however, it’s equally
important to leave details to the imagination as it is to
provide them directly to the reader.
1. Identify them as male or female when
appropriate.
In many cases this will be immediately obvious and will
likely be the first thing you’ll take note of. However, not
everyone conforms to these categories, and it’s typically
best not to make assumptions unless necessary.[1]
• For instance, if you’re trying to describe a suspect to the
police, you may have to say something like, "They
looked like a man to me, but I can’t be certain."
• In other cases, you may be able to simply skip ahead to
other descriptive elements.
2. Take note of their skin color and guess a race or
ethnicity if needed.
Here again, there’s a difference between describing
someone for the police and doing so for other reasons. In
the first case, you may need to make assumptions—like,
"he looked Irish" or "she was Korean, I think"—that may
be insensitive or offensive in other cases.[2]
• You can stick to just describing the color of their skin,
using terms like "olive," "pale," "dark brown," and so on.
Leave it to others to make assumptions if they wish.
3. Estimate their age range within 5- or 10-year
increments.
In many cases, you’ll be able to pick someone out as
"around 25" or "probably 60." Consider providing an age
range that is as narrow as you are comfortable giving—
this will make it easier for others to visualize the person
you’re describing.[3]
• For instance, identifying someone as looking 30-35
instead of 30-40 gives a clearer picture to others.
• This is especially important with younger people—a 10-
year-old looks very different from a 20-year-old, after all!
4. Give their height either descriptively or by
estimating.
If you only get a quick glimpse of someone, the best you’ll
probably be able to do is put them in a general height
category like "very tall, "tall," "average," "short," or "very
short." These vague terms become slightly more useful
when the person can be categorized as male or female, or
as a child.[4]
If you’re able to give a more specific estimate of their actual
height, try to do so in 2 inch or 5-centimeter increments—
for instance, "she’s between 5’4" and 5’6"," or "he was 180-
185 cm tall.
5. Describe their weight with terms like "thin,"
"average," and "large build."
It’s usually much more difficult to estimate weight accurately than it is to
estimate someone’s height. Therefore, stick to giving fairly vague
categorizations of a person’s overall "build"—saying things like, "she was
very thin" or, "he has a very large build."[5]
• Describing a person’s size and/or weight can make you seem
insensitive, so unless you must do it as accurately as possible (e.g.,
describing a missing person), stick to describing their "build"—"thin
build," "average build," etc.[6]
• Some descriptive terms can be more insensitive in some variations of a
language than others. For instance, calling a woman "plump" is
somewhat more polite in British English than American English, where
it’s better to stick with "large" or perhaps "curvy."
• If you’re estimating a specific weight, try to do it within 20 pound or 10-
kilogram increments if possible.
6. Mention their overall appearance as tactfully as
possible
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all, so your idea of a
"gorgeous" person might not line up with someone else’s.
Give your opinion, but do with tact—for instance:[7]
• Call a person you find unattractive "ordinary" or "plain," not
"ugly."
• Use "scruffy" or "unkempt" instead of "messy."
• Use "attractive" to denote good-looking, instead of
"beautiful," "gorgeous," or possibly even "handsome."
• "Flabby" isn’t ideal, but it may be the best way to describe
someone who is the opposite of "fit," "toned," or "well-
built."

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Describing people

Which of the following women do you consider the most beautiful?

HAIRSTYLE / ESTILO DE CABELLO

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